A Landmark for Common Ground

The broad support for the Ryan-DeLauro bill really conveys how remarkable the
legislation itself is, addressing a broad swath of concerns and priorities for
this typically polarizing issue, and reflecting the shared values of people who
hold differing views on abortion.

Listen to Today’s Press conference announcing the "Reducing the Need for Abortion and Supporting Parents Act (aka The Ryan-DeLauro Bill):"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShRHXfpghhc

The Members were joined by religious and secular pro-life and pro-choice
leaders today on Capitol Hill, and dozens more issued statements of support.
See the full list of endorsers here,
including 35 religious leaders from both sides of the abortion divide.

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The bill — and common ground on abortion more broadly — draws on values
shared by pro-choice and pro-life leaders alike and create policies that
improve the lives of women and families in concrete ways. The bill outlines a
range of programs and initiatives to reduce the need for abortion– from
enlisting parents in preventing teen pregnancy to expanding low-income women’s
access to contraception to increasing awareness about domestic violence to
ensuring maternity care is covered by insurers to supporting parenting
students.

The broad support for this bill really conveys how remarkable the
legislation itself is, addressing a broad swath of concerns and priorities for
this typically polarizing issue, and reflecting the shared values of people who
hold differing views on abortion. Over at Time magazine, Amy
Sullivan sums up the remarkable context:

…Consider this: Just three years ago, when the two Representatives,
pro-life Tim Ryan of Ohio and pro-choice Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut,
introduced an earlier version of the legislation, they could only convince one
religious organization — and not a single abortion rights group — to support
them. Today leaders from Planned Parenthood and NARAL will be crowded
elbow-to-elbow with Catholics and conservative evangelicals to stand behind
Ryan and DeLauro. It may not be an end to the culture war, but it looks a lot
like a ceasefire…

With the continued goodwill and courage of leaders on both sides, this
ceasefire could turn into a peace treaty that will allow for a new approach
that focuses on meeting tangible needs of women, children, and families across
the country.

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